Savage in a Stetson (Crossroads #4) - Em Petrova Page 0,59
her face and didn’t see the letdown he thought he would. “I’m still sorry for it.”
“You pushed me to better myself and think outside the box. You made me fall in love with you more every day.”
He closed his eyes and opened them again slowly to see the lights of love dancing in hers.
“And we will not concede defeat! They might have good food, but so do we. It’s down to the judges’ decisions, but I’m not giving up yet.” Determination resonated in her voice.
“Damn, this is why I love you so much. You’re right—I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess that pork melted in my mouth and I kind of freaked out, thinking about how to break the news to you.” He shook off the pressure. “No matter what the judges decide, we’re going home the best in Crossroads.”
“That’s right!” She leaned in and gave him a hard kiss on the mouth. The flavor of the woman he loved wiped away all his worries of being the best. Because as long as he was the best at being her man, that was all that mattered to him.
As he lifted his head and met her stare, he knew she felt the same. Together, they’d come out on top.
Chapter Eleven
Jada and Dom stood in her parking lot watching their friends drive down the road, honking their horns and waving out their windows until they were out of sight.
She still gripped the big wooden cutting board that had FIRST PLACE PIT MASTER branded into the surface. She had to admit the minute the judge placed it into her hands, she hadn’t let it go except once to allow Dom to hold it and enjoy the victory.
She turned to him, and they bowed their heads over the board. “I can’t believe we did it,” she said for the twentieth time since the judging.
“Me either.”
“You didn’t have faith in us.”
“I had all the faith in the fact that even if we came in fifth place, that we’d be the best together.”
She smiled and bumped her shoulder against his arm. “Let’s put this up on the wall in your restaurant.”
He stared down at her for so long that her heart gave a hard squeeze of worry. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Jada.”
Her insides fluttered. “I’m listening.”
“Come sit down.” He twitched his head toward the picnic table that Theo and Dom had just unloaded into her yard again. She followed him to it and perched on the bench, staring at her fiancé.
He flattened his hands on the table, and she set aside the prize and knotted her fingers in her lap.
“I don’t like this,” she said after a moment of silence.
He nodded and then pushed out a sigh. “I’ve been in business three months.”
“Yes, same as me.”
“And in those three months, I haven’t turned very many days of profit.”
Her eyes flew open wide and she gaped at him. “What?”
“It’s true. My overhead’s too high.”
“Not even when you had The Georgia Peaches to play?”
He gave a doleful shake of his head. “I did make money on that, but it was short-lived. I don’t see how I can keep losing money and keep my doors open, Jada.”
“But…” She bit her lip and looked down at the surface of the table. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I hoped things would improve. I know most businesses don’t earn profits the first year or even the second. But I’ve run through my resources faster than I hoped. Buying expensive kitchen equipment probably didn’t help, but I wanted the best. Anyway, I don’t know what to do now.”
The shock she felt ripped through her again. She hadn’t guessed at his financial state.
“I didn’t help matters by ruining your sign,” she began.
He reached across the table and settled his hand over hers, weighting it to the table under his callused touch. His eyes burned when he looked into hers. “It wasn’t your fault. The sign didn’t matter in this case. I did what I set out to do, but fact is, I’ve failed. I can’t afford to keep my doors open past the end of the month.”
“No!” Pain for his loss knifed through her.
He nodded. “I’ve spoken to my grandpa about this at length. Some of the money is his investment, and I feel bad about losing it. I’ll try to pay him back in time.”
“What will you do afterward? You won’t…return to the rodeo, will you?”
He shook his head at once. “No plans